Means for increasing the work obtainable from a charge of compressed air.



No. 827,891. PATENTED AUG. 7', 1906.

w. H. .SODEAU. MEANS FOR ILIGREASING THE WORK OBTAINABLB FROM A CHARGE OP COMPRESSED AIR. I APPLICATION mum HAY9,1905.

I To. ail. whom it may concern/.

STATES WILLIAM HORACE: SODEAIL. OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. ENGLAND, ASSLGNOR TO: SIR W. G. ARMSTRONG, WHITWOB-TH: ANDfiQMPANLE. LIMITED, OF NEVVUASTLEUPON-TYNE, ENGLAND;

MEANS FOR INCREASING THE WORK OBTAINABLE FROM A. CHARQE F (SUMPRESSED MR'.

Patented Aug.- 7, 19.06:

. Application filedMay 9.1905. Serial No. 259,580.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HORACE So- DJ J AU, engineering chemist, a subject of the K111i of Great Britain,- residing at Elswick Wor s, N ewcastle-upon-Tyne, England,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inor Relating to Means for Increasing the Work-Obtainable fi'oma Charge of Compressed Air, more particularly applicable to. the propulsion of torpedoes and the like, of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to improvements. in the apparatus described in the specificationsv Nos. 693,871 and 693,872, dated the 25th of February, 1902. According to these specifications the amount of work obtainable from a charge of compressed air stored in -a reservoiras, for example, in the reservoir of aWhitehead torpedois increased by burnin-ginside-thereservoir-alcohol, petroleum, or 011 or suitable combustible liquid, so that the temperature of the air is raised and the volume which it will occupy at a given pressure consequently increased. I

i The invention could of course be applied to. a reservoir containing instead of air any other gas or gases capable of supporting combustion.

With a single fuel-reservoir arranged as. described in the above-mentioned specifications the rate at which the combustible liquid is. fed into the air-reservoir, owing to the eX- pansion of the air contained in the upper part of the fuel-reservoir, increases very greatly as the pressure decreases, assuming the pressure to fall at a constant rate. feed is, in fact, approximately proportional to the square of the reciprocal of the pressure in the air-reservoir. Consequently dangerously high temperatures are apt to be produced in the later stages if the air-space in the fuelreservoir is large enough to cause the delivery of combustible liquid to take place at a rate sufiiciently great to produce a rapid rise of temperature during the early stages of the discharge of the air from the reservoir. Conversely, there will at first be a relatively slow riseof temperature if the air-space is proportioned to produce a reasonable temperature toward the termination of the discharge,

According to this invention the progressive feeding of the'combustible liquid into The rate of h -reservoir i dependen upo the fie li a pressure in the latter. f employ two or more fuelrreservoirsi in which ithere are different relat on hipsbe weenthe iair-space and combustible liquid. The-sum. iof the air-spaces in all the tuelerese ivoirs. is i such that t e exp n on oi the c nfined these air-spaces. feeds the eombustibleliq uidg at the desired rate during the earlier stages, oi the discharge trom the airreservoir+that is i to say, the combustible liquid is fed into. the air-reservoir at such a rate that its cornbus tion causesthe temperatur Of the ssuing eir to riseas rapidlyas isdesirable having regard I to the f y of he engine, 8:0. Theratiaof i combustible liquid toair-spacein thevarious. i fuel-reservoirs. is so, proportioned that the: ombustible liquid in t ne in which the ratio is smallest will have been entirely 2?- i pelled before the rate of feed, has, become 6& cessive.v This empty ng f one of.- th 161 reservoirs causes a sudden reduction of the rate of feed, and so preventsthe production of Y an injnriously high temperature. As the discha ge from. the air-re er i on nues: there will again be an increase the; rateof feed from the remai ng fuel reservo r 01: r servoirs, which is prevented. from becoming ex cessi-ve by the successive emptying of the-va-v riousf'uel-reservoirs (if more than two are emipoyed) in the inverse order o their ratio. of

el-space to, air-space.

The drawing is a part longitudinal GQtiQ-I For. tint v purp s of a torpedo constructedaccordingto this-inj vention.

a b are two fuel-reservoirs'havingdifierent i ratios 0t air-space tofuel-space which Lem- :ploy for the purpose of obtaining a suitable 5 gradation of the fuel-supply. I c is the compressed-air reservoir, communieating with reservoirs a and b by the piped. e is a valve on this pi e. flow of fuel through t e pipe (Z is due to. the expansion of the air both a and 1),, but at i a desired stage the reservoir a, whichl as-a relatively large air-space, will have become empty. The fuel-su ly is then obtained only from b,-so that the rate of feed is. then much less than if the whole of the air origie nally contained in .the fuel-reservoirs was still driving out combustible liquid by its ex The initialrate of is muhh greater than if the air-space in a had not been acting during the early stages.

f is a spraying-nozzle at the end of the pipe (1, or the dish-like furnace described in the said former specifications may be employed.

g is the primer or cartridge for igniting the spray.

a b arethe pipes. for charging the fuel-reservoirs a and b. As shown, these pipes dip different distances into the fuel-reservoirs a and b, so that the amount of fuel which can be charged into the respective reservoirs is also different.

h is the pipe, leading thecompressed air from the reservoir 0 to the engine.

The fuel-reservoirs may be placed inside instead of outside the reservoir 0; but this is not usually convenient.

When a spraying-nozzle is em loyed, its

throttling action tends to check t e increase in the rate at which the fuel is fed in the later stages.

I have shown the source of fuel as consisting of two reservoirs, though this number is not essential. The fuel in the reservoirs at first stands at different levels, and all of it is under fluid-pressure. Before complete delivery of the fuel to the air-reservoir a part of the pressure on the fuel is automatically released, as when the first reservoir in the series containing least fuel is emptied, and thus the normal increase of the rate of delivery of the fuel due to the fall of pressure in the air-reservoir' is automatically checked during the delivery of the fuel.

What I claim is 1. The combination with apparatus for heating a body of compressed air of the type in which liquid fuel is fed into the compressed air by the expansion of a second body of compressed air, of means for allowing part of the second body of compressed air to escape before the whole of the fuel has been delivered.

2. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air, a source of fuel 'under pressure connected therewith, means for igniting and burning the fuel in the air-reservoir, and means for releasing a portion of the pressure on the fuel before com lete delivery thereof whereby a suitable gra ation of the supply of fuel is effected.

3. The combination of a reservoir for com pressed air, a source of fuel under pressure connected therewith, means for igniting and burning the fuel in the air-reservoir and means for automatically releasing a portion of the pressure on the fuel before complete delivery thereof, the arrangement being such that the normal increase of the rate of delivery of the fuel due to the fall of pressure in the air-reservoir is automatically checked during the delivery of the fuel.

' 4. The combination of a reservoir for comsure connected therewith, and means for automatically withdrawing a portion of the pressure fluid from the fuel before complete delivery of the fuel to the air-reservoir.

5. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air, a plurality of closed fuel-reservoirs communicating with it by a common passage and containing respectively bodies of fuel under pressure at different levels whereby the fuel-reservoirs are successively emptied and means for igniting and burning the fuel in the air-reservoir.

6. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air, a plurality of reservoirs respectively containing different quantities of fuel under pressure, connections between said fuel-reservoirs and the reservoir for compressed air, and means for igniting and burning the fuel in the air-reservo1r.

7. The combination of a reservoir for comressed air a luralit of reservoirs res ec under pressure, a pipe connected to the fuelreservoirs and having one end in the air-reservoir, a spraying-nozzle on this end of the pipe, and a valve between this end and the fuel-reservoirs.

10. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air, a plurality of reservoirs respectively containing different quantities of fuel under pressure, a pipe connected to the fuelreservoirs and having one end in the air-reservoir, and a valve between this end and the fuel-reservoirs.

11. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air, a plurality of reservoirsfor fuel under pressure communicating with it, fuelcharging pipes dipping into the fuel-reservoirs, the ratio of the volume of the reservoirs above the bottom of the charging-pipe to the volume below it being different in the different reservoirs, and means for igniting and burning the fuel in the air-reservoir.

12. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air, a plurality of reservoirs for fuel under pressure, fuel-charging pipes dipping into the fuel-reservoirs, the ratio of the volume of the reservoir above the bottom of the charging-pipe to the volume below it being different in different reservoirs, and a pipe connected to the fuel-reservoirs and having one end in the air-reservoir.

13. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air, a plurality of reservoirs for fuel under pressure, fuel-charging pipesdipping into the fuel-reservoirs, the ratio of the vol- .ume of the reservoir above the bottom of the charging-pipe to the volume below it being connected to the fuel-reservoirs and having one end'in the air-reservoir, a s raying-nozzle on this end of the pipe, an a valve between this end and the fuel-reservoirs.

15. The combination of a reservoir for compressed air,-a plurality of reservoirs for fuel under pressure, fuel-charging pipes dipping into the fuel-reservoirs, the ratio of the volume of the reservoir above the bottom of the charging-pipe to the volume below it being different in the different reservoirs, a pipe connected to the fuel-reservoirs and having one end in the air-reservoir, and a valve between this end and the fuel-reservoirs.

WILLIAM HORACE SODEAU. Witnesses:

FRANK HARLOW, EDWARD ATKINSON. 

